When I look down at my hands, my fingernails look a bit too clean. — [Jesus] replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20, NIV) I’ve been thinking about…

He responds by doing something I rarely think of doing when my back is against the wall. — Imagine opening up your email and seeing a mean, nasty, threatening email. At first, you think it was meant for someone else. But no. The menacing words are directed at you, and you feel your soul being pierced. As you read the words over and over again, your body responds…

A lesson from Olympic-level gymnastics. — Did you know that I’m an expert at judging Olympic-level gymnastics? I didn’t either until I started watching it yesterday afternoon. Then I started saying things like, “That landing could’ve been better,” and “He didn’t keep his wrists straight.” (I copied that one off the commentator. …

Sometimes the need for approval can cause us to live a life of fear. — The other day a friend and I were having a conversation about some pretty deep issues, and it brought up a memory from my middle school days. When I was in 8th grade, I would eat lunch in the cafeteria with the same kid every day. The weird thing is…

(Or Will Do…) — Happy Summer! (If you live in Orlando as I do, it’s been summer for the past 3 months…) I came into summer with a long list of things I wanted to accomplish. The most ambitious was to start (and finish!) my third devotional book. But as I began to juggle…

Joy and Brokenness. These are two things to recognize and two things to hold in tension with each other. — Today’s my 38th birthday. (Insert the obligatory, “Am I really this old?!” remark.) I was thinking back on my 37th year on earth. So many good things happened. I managed to (self-) publish two books and make strides in my business. Diana and I adopted our son, Emmett, something we…

It’s Jesus vs. Death! — But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. (Acts 2:24, NIV) I came across the above verse in my reading this week, and for some reason, I thought about the game show…

Instead of calling him Doubting Thomas, maybe we should call him Rational Thomas or Realistic Thomas. — One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand…

What does it mean for Jesus’ love to be wide, long, high, and deep? — And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. (Ephesians 3:17–18, NIV) Happy Easter! (A little late, but it’s always a good time…